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Communications - Phone calls

The «Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S. A.» (ETECSA), in English: Telecommunications Company of Cuba, is the government owned service provider for the entire island of Cuba. Their services include: Telephony, Internet, Wireless Internet, and Mobile telePhony through their Cubacel branch. In varadero, the main ETECSA office is on Avenida 1 corner of Calle 30, and the main CUBACEL office is on Avenida 1 corner of Calle 42. ETECSA has also "MiniPuntos" (small service points) all over varadero.

From landlines

Tourists can make phone calls from their hotel (charged to the room) at a cost of about 2-3 CUC per minute (for an international call). But the most economical way to make phone calls is to purchase a Tarjeta Telefónica PROPRIA, it's a prepaid calling card with a personal code that can be used with any private phone or public phone to make local, national or international calls. Instructions on how to use them appear on the back of the card. You can buy them in most hotels, ETECSA offices and MiniPuntos, commercial centers, airports, etc. They come in denominations of 5 CUC or 10 CUC. For more information on public phones and how to use the Propria service, visit the following section of the ETECSA website: www.etecsa.cu/telefonia_publica/

There are 2 types of Propria cards: The GREEN one sold in CUC (Cuban Convertible Pesos) for local, national and international calls, and the BLUE one sold in CUP (Cuban Pesos aka Moneda Nacional) for local and national calls only.

Here are the rates(*) when using a Propria prepaid calling card:
• Call within Cuba: 0.05 to 1.00 CUC per minute (depending on distance and time of day)
• International call (all countries): 1.00 CUC per minute
(*) Subject to change, please check the ETECSA website: www.etecsa.cu/telefonia_publica/tarifas/

There’s another type of public phone that can also accept coins, they operate in Moneda Nacional (0.05, 0.20 and 1.00 CUP coins) and are for local and national calls (no international calls).

Canada Direct service

ETECSA provides a toll-free number 0800-CANDA (0800-22632) to Canadians who want to make a phone call from Cuba to Canada (or any other country) and have the call charged to their own phone account in Canada.

Collect calls
They can be made from designated public phones located in places of high communication need (considered Category 1) such as: polyclinics, hospitals, dental clinics, blood banks, pharmacies, funeral homes, cemeteries, maternity and nursing homes, terrestrial, naval and air public transport terminals, and facilities in charge of ticket reservations. To have access to the collect service on these public phones, you have to dial 1 6969.

Mobile telephony (cellphone service)

Mobile telephony in Cuba operates under the GSM (900 MHz) standard on the entire Cuban territory, and in 3G in Havana City, provincial capitals, and tourist poles in the northern part of the country (Havana, Varadero, Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo Ensenachos, Cayo Las Brujas, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo).

Tourists and foreigners can use their cellphone in Cuba (with their own number) via the Cubacel network. ETECSA has roaming agreements with a great number of mobile carriers from more than 160 countries (listed in their website: www.etecsa.cu/telefonia_movil/roaming/). We suggest that you check with your carrier to see if your phone has international capabilities and to enable international roaming.

Another less expensive way to use your own cellphone in Cuba is to rent a SIM card (Contrato Temporal Prepago). If you have an unlocked GSM-capable phone, you can rent a SIM card from Cubacel (in ETECSA/Cubacel offices), current daily rate is 3 CUC and they come with prepaid minutes in amounts of 10, 20 or 40 CUC. See mobile call rates here: www.etecsa.cu/telefonia_movil/tarifas/. You can also rent a cellphone in Cuba at ETECSA/Cubacel offices, they charge a one-time refundable deposit of 100 CUC, plus a daily fee of 10 CUC. You'll find several ETECSA/Cubacel offices in Varadero (Cardenas), see the locations here: www.etecsa.cu/contacto/red_comercial/

We are Lily and Normand, globetrotters and Cuba lovers. Our travels took us to many wonderful countries around the world but Cuba will always have a special place in our heart. We've been to "La Isla Grande" more than fifty times; we like to call Cuba our "segunda casa". We are Canadians so we need to escape from our harsh and long winters once in a while! Traveling and building websites are our greatest passions. Varaderoguide.net is online since 2009!

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